HTC's Windows Phone 7 devices will have at least some form of Sense UI in spite of Microsoft's limits, user experience design lead Drew Bamford said in an interview. Although Microsoft is preventing changes to the main interface, HTC believes it can have a version that is an "augment" to WP7 rather than a replacement. The manager has no preview but told Forbes it won't look like the major overhaul seen in Windows Mobile 6.5.
The phone creator is one of Microsoft's launch partners for the new mobile OS and should show its Sense updates before the end of the year in phones such as the Mondrian and Mozart.
Bamford also provided some insight into the Android versions of Sense UI, adding that the UI updates of Android 3.0 likely won't prevent any custom interface changes. Google is believed to be improving the stock interface to reduce the incentive to change the OS, but the company has also always stressed that others are free to customize even key parts of the experience.
Hints of what would come in the future were indefinite, but media integration should be a more important part of the customizations where current versions still focus heavily on social networking. An app recommendation system from the Wildfire should spread to other devices soon, Bamford said. He also teased that some user studies of the experience across multiple phones should produce results in about six to nine months.
HTC determined to put Sense UI elements in Windows Phone 7
HTC determined to put Sense UI elements in Windows Phone 7
HTC determined to put Sense UI elements in Windows Phone 7